Opportunities (Let's Make Lots Of Money)
Opportunities was released as a single two times during the first year Pet Shop Boys were signed with Parlophone Records, and also appeared on their first album, Please. Production and Recording The song was originally written in 1983, and the following year they recorded it with Bobby Orlando. Indeed, the song was written to sound like Orlando's music, as the band were fans of him at the time. Although Neil has stated he may prefer the Bobby O version of the track, it was never released. After signing with Parlophone, the band decided to make this song their first single as a lead-up to an album. The song was re-recorded with J. J. Jeczalic of the Art Of Noise and Nicholas Froome. According to Neil, the original 1985 single took three weeks to record, and cost £40,000. For the Please album, the vocals were rerecorded, and some of the tracks were reprogrammed by Stephen Hague. The reprise that is track six on the album was taken from the original recording of 1985, which appears in some early cuts of the mix (later released on re-issues of Please). The party heard in the background was recorded at Sarm East Studios in London. The Please production was subsequently re-released as a single in 1986 and did slightly better on the charts than its predecessor. Lyrics The idea to sing "Let's make lots of money" was Chris': This was in the Eighties, during Thatcherism, and suddenly there had been this huge philosophical shift in the country where the idea of making money was a good thing. People started talking about yuppies and buying Filofaxes and all that kind of stuff, and this was meant to be a sort of satire on that. It's a classic Chris idea: let's say the unsayable. Neil compared the song to the movie "Midnight Cowboy", where Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight pair up as a brains-and-brawn hustler combination, and went on to say: It was meant to be an anti-rock-group song, singing about the things you're not supposed to sing about...We always thought the song was sad, because it was about two losers ... It was what you would have called, at the time, a wind-up. You wouldn't have said 'ironic' at the time, you'd have said, 'it's a wind-up'. It was meant to be provocative. I've got the brains You've got the looks Let's make lots of money You've got the brawn I've got the brains Let's make lots of... I've had enough of scheming and messing around with jerks My car is parked outside I'm afraid it doesn't work I'm looking for a partner someone who gets things fixed Ask yourself this question Do you want to be rich? I've got the brains You've got the looks Let's make lots of money You've got the brawn I've got the brains Let's make lots of money You can tell I'm educated I studied at the Sorbonne Doctored in mathematics I could have been a don I can program a computer choose the perfect time If you've got the inclination I have got the crime Oh, there's a lot of opportunities if you know when to take them You know there's a lot of opportunities if there aren't, you can make them (Make or break them) I've got the brains You've got the looks Let's make lots of money Let's make lots of... money You can see I'm single-minded I know what I could be How'd you feel about it? Come and take a walk with me I'm looking for a partner regardless of expense Think about it seriously You know it makes sense Let's (Got the brains) make (Got the looks) Let's make lots of money (Oohh money) (Let's) You've got the brawn (make) I've got the brains Let's make lots of money (Oohh money) I've got the brains (Got the brains) You've got the looks (Got the looks) Let's make lots of money (Oohh money) Money All the love that we had and the love that we hide Who will bury us when we die? ----- written by Tennant/Lowe Releases and Versions 'Opportunities' was the band's first single on Parlophone Records and also their 4th. Category:Songs Category:Please